Why African Buyers Prefer to Buy from Dubai
A large number of African businesses use Dubai as their supply source. As a result, traders, merchants, manufacturers is Dubai have been eager to attract African buyers and have been doing roaring business in the African markets.
The reasons why African buyers throng to Dubai are many. To start with, the lack of a reliable and well established manufacturing base in many African regions has forced both, African businesses as well as consumers, to look for overseas suppliers to meet the rising demand for capital and consumer goods. Against this backdrop, Dubai presents itself as a convenient and affordable market to source all kinds of goods at affordable prices.
Comprehensive Range of Products
Dubai offers a comprehensive range of products and services from all across the world – this helps African buyers compare prices and quality of goods from all across the world while buying from Dubai and choose the best products to suit their needs. A well established chain of retailers in Dubai offer a wide selection of goods at affordable prices to African buyers.
As African buyers are mostly "cash customers", merchants in Dubai are able to offer them attractive prices too and welcome business from buyers from Africa. As a result, the wholesale market in Dubai is very active in promoting re-exports to Africa and African buyers generally buy in bulk from suppliers in Dubai and then undertake retail selling in their own countries as well as neighbouring countries, at a very healthy profit. Traders from Kenya, for instance, have been buying from Dubai bulk quantities of low-priced tyres, batteries and spare parts and distributing the same to nearby countries of Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Bargain Deals
This adds to the attraction for African buyers to Dubai who are looking for low-priced products that are in big demand in the price sensitive markets of Africa. Low import duties and direct supplies from manufacturers in the Far East and China have been responsible for keeping prices in Dubai lower than other markets in the region.
Easy Availability of Goods
Easy availability of goods in Dubai also attracts business people as well as consumers from Africa to Dubai's thriving markets and souqs.
Dubai's geographical proximity to the African continent further adds to the lure. Shorter travel time, cheaper freight costs and easy availability of visa has helped Dubai attract a large number of African buyers to its shores.
For instance, the cost of shipping a 40-foot container from China to Africa is approximately $ 2450 compared to just $920 from Dubai.
Consolidation
The biggest advantage in making their bulk purchases from the UAE, for African buyers, is that they can purchase just the quantities they require. While theoretically, it is possible for African buyers to source their supplies directly from manufacturers in the Far East, but, such orders would normally be for at least one container load, if not more. Most African buyers, on the other hand, do not require the merchandise in such large quantities and are more comfortable with sourcing smaller quantities of different commodities from Dubai, stuffing them into one or two containers and then shipping the goods to their African destinations.
The fact that Dubai has excellent shipping connections means that African buyers can ship their purchases to literally any destination on the continent. Thus, not only do African businessmen have in Dubai the ideal location where they can find all their requirements in one city, but also have the means of transporting it back home very conveniently and cheaply.
Price Sensitive Markets in Africa
African markets are extremely price sensitive and most of the requirements originating from Africa are for low-priced goods. As a result, goods from China, Korea, Hong Kong and other Far Eastern countries have been more successful in African markets as compared to those from Europe and North Africa as they relatively lower priced.
The decisive factor is that over the decades, Dubai has developed a substantial community of retailers, a sophisticated import system and substantial warehousing for stock. This has lead to the emergence of a keenly competitive market that ensures that prices in Dubai are as much as 10 to 15 per cent lower than in neighbouring markets. Dubai continues to be number one for buying anything from cosmetics to automobile spare parts and machinery.
Africa Business Pages: Connecting Exporters in Dubai to Buyers in Africa
With the emergence of Africa as one of the major re-export markets for the UAE, many Dubai-based exporters have begun concentrating their marketing efforts towards the ‘dark continent’. The AFRICA BUSINESS PAGES is one of the tools that is proof of how seriously Dubai businesses take the African market – most of the advertisers on this B2B portal are from Dubai – a testimonial to the importance attached to the African market by Dubai-based businesses.
Africa Business Pages has also compiled a database of importers in Africa that has helped many international suppliers find buyers in the African markets. The Africa Importers Directories compiled by Africa Business Pages lists major importers, retailers, buyers and wholesalers in over 35 countries in Africa and is now available for direct download in Excel format at a nominal cost.
This unique database of importers in Africa has helped international suppliers to establish direct B2B contacts with the business counterparts in Africa. Most suppliers use the database to conduct email marketing campaigns across several African markets while others use the list to send our their product brochures to their potential customers in Africa.
